Notes

In 2007 Walter Oltmann was invited to participate in an exhibition titled Skin to Skin at the Kaunas Textile Biennale, curated by Fiona Kirkwood. The section of the Biennale aimed to make known the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. in his signature medium of wire, Oltmann created a skeletal pregnant mother and her baby, stating, “I wanted to convey the qualities of intimacy and fragility that lace holds in rendering the figures in fine wire weaving. The human skeleton and skull are emotionally loaded images, and the skull of a child even more so. The iconography of mother and child is central to art history across many cultures and in the interpretation of this theme, one usually expects sentiment. In these works, I aim to counter the sentimental reading of a mother and child, hence the skeletons. It is an 'x-ray' line, the transparent fine wire weave has an x-ray quality to it and allows me to present the internal structures of a figure." The present lot forms part of the series of prints created around the wire work depicting child skulls and an image of a baby. ¹

^1. The Artist Press, https://www.artprintsa.com/Walter-Oltmann.htm, accessed 31 January 2023.

Rustenburg-born Walter Oltmann graduated with a MA (Fine Arts) from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in 1985. His main area of creative focus is sculpture and, more particularly, fabricating woven wire forms which sometimes reference local craft traditions. He has completed numerous commissions including chandeliers and lamp shades for the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg in 2003 and the world map interpretation at the Wits Origins Centre in 2005/6. Oltmann has received numerous awards including the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Arts (2001) and the Sasol Wax Art Award (2007), and his work is widely represented in public and private collections in South Africa and abroad. He has participated in many group shows, including Advance/… Notice at the Goodman Gallery in 2012. His solo exhibitions include Penumbra at the Goodman Gallery in 2013 and In the Weave at the Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, in 2014, which celebrated three decades of his work and described him as “one of South Africa’s finest and most intriguing artists”. Oltmann was a senior lecturer in the department of Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand before retiring and becoming a full-time artist.

Provenance

Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2015.

Property of Collectors. 

Exhibited

Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Walter Oltmann / Cradle, 29 October to 12 December 2015.